‘I kind of make music for the song’ – LADIPOE talks REVIVAL, Rap vs Afrobeats and why ‘the sky is big enough’

• LADIPOE has released his sophomore album, REVIVAL, a 16-track project that reflects his growth as an artiste and explores themes around identity, purpose and life.

• The Mavin Records rapper says rap and melody can coexist, rejecting the idea that Afrobeats’ global rise must come at the expense of hip-hop.

• LADIPOE, who rose from his Lyrically Equipped days to major hits such as “Feeling” with BNXN, says he now makes music based on what each song needs, rather than trying to prove he can rap or sing.

Instead, the Mavin Records artiste has spent much of his career constructing a space where rap, melody, introspection and African sounds can coexist. Years after first emerging as Poe, he has become one of Nigeria’s most distinctive rap voices, earning the tag “Leader of the Revival” while steadily expanding the boundaries of what Nigerian hip-hop can sound like.

That evolution is now reflected in his latest body of work, 'REVIVAL', a 16-track sophomore album released on July 17, 2026. The project arrives eight years after his debut 'T.A.P (Talk About Poe)' and represents a significant stage in both his personal and artistic development.

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Born Oladipo Eso and raised in Lagos, LADIPOE did not initially appear destined for a career in music.

He moved to the United States to study Chemistry and Biology at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. During his university years, however, his interest in writing and music deepened, leading him to co-found the rap group Lyrically Equipped with friends Jeffrey and Kurt. Mavin Records says his love for music began even earlier, during secondary school.

His early musical journey eventually brought him into contact with Show Dem Camp, and his appearance on the duo’s “Feel Alright” helped introduce him to a wider Nigerian audience.

The experience established an important pattern that would define his career: LADIPOE could remain rooted in hip-hop while still making music accessible beyond the traditional rap audience.

In 2017, he joined Mavin Records as the label’s first rapper following its rebranding from Mo’ Hits. His signing marked a major turning point, with the Altims-produced “Man Already” serving as his first release under the label.

His debut project, T.A.P (Talk About Poe), followed in 2018.

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LADIPOE’s artistry has always been built around words, but he has never treated rap as a rigid formula.

His music draws from hip-hop while embracing melody and contemporary African sounds. His influences include American hip-hop groups and artistes such as Slum Village, Lupe Fiasco and Little Brother, influences that are evident in his layered writing and emphasis on lyrical detail.

That versatility became particularly visible with “Know You”, his 2020 collaboration with Simi, before his career reached another level with “Feeling” featuring BNXN in 2021.

It remains, by his own admission, hard to separate from the moment he made it.

He described the studio session itself as unremarkable in process, no grand expectations, just another day recording, but recalled the specific instant the song revealed itself:

According to Mavin Records, “Feeling” amassed more than 80 million streams within four months and became one of the defining Nigerian songs of that period. It also earned LADIPOE a nomination for Best International Flow at the BET Hip Hop Awards.

That instinct for melody, he insists, isn't a recent pivot but a constant that's simply become more visible as his audience has grown. "I've always used melody in my music, on the come up," he said, tracing it back to his Lyrically Equipped days at university. "Maybe because I'm becoming more popular now, people are realising , people have shorter memories of my work."

Even so, he's resistant to being boxed into either lane permanently. Asked whether he'd ever release a song that's pure singing with no rapping at all, he said he doesn't currently have one, and wasn't sure he ever would, since he no longer makes music to prove a point about genre.

Yet the success of “Feeling” did not convince him to abandon rap for a more conventional Afrobeats sound.

Instead, it demonstrated that the two could exist together.

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In an exculsive interview with Pulse Ghana's entertainment reporter Dorcas Agambila, LADIPOE pushed back against the idea that Afrobeats' global rise necessarily means the decline of rap.

For LADIPOE, hip-hop's influence stretches far beyond the conventional boundaries of rap. He compared the genre to a football feeder club, arguing that hip-hop has helped nurture sounds and artistes across different musical spaces, including Afrobeats.

"Hip-hop is like a seed," he said. "It's planted in every different genre, Afrobeat included... I think it's done its job in a really good way."

He pointed to Ghana's trap scene as evidence rap's momentum is still building, not fading, and landed on what became the conversation's closing line: it's a myth that one genre's growth has to destroy another's, because, as he put it, borrowing the line back;

That philosophy also explains his willingness to experiment.

While some listeners may view his increasing use of singing as a recent development, LADIPOE sees it differently. He says melody has been part of his music since his Lyrically Equipped days.

He explained.

Rather than deciding beforehand whether a record should be a rap song or a singing song, he approaches each track by asking what the music requires.

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That approach is central to REVIVAL, his second studio album.

Released on July 17, 2026, the 16-track project arrives after years of personal and professional change. Apple Music describes the album as a reflection on LADIPOE’s experiences as a father, music star and citizen of the world, while also examining identity, purpose and the pressures that come with success.

The album includes collaborations with artistes including Teni, Ema Onigah, Maglera Doe Boy, taves, Pa Salieu and Dyo, among others.

Its tracklist begins with “Chosen” and “Amazing - Freestyle” before moving through songs including “Clutch” featuring Teni, “Many People” with Ema Onigah, “Motho Waka” with Maglera Doe Boy, “Compose” featuring taves, “No Level” featuring Pa Salieu and “One More Time” with Dyo.

The closing stretch includes “Road Rage / Old Ways” featuring Gonaboy, a record that brings together two contrasting musical moods. Apple Music lists the album at 16 tracks and approximately 51 minutes.

For LADIPOE, even choosing a favourite song from the album is difficult.

During the interview, he joked that it was the hardest question he had been asked, eventually naming “Road Rage” and “Old Ways” as his favourites 'today' because his answer could change.

That response captures something important about REVIVAL: it is not simply an attempt to recreate the formula that made earlier songs successful.

Instead, it documents an artiste who is still evolving.

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LADIPOE's career has unfolded against the backdrop of a Nigerian music industry where Afrobeats has become the country's biggest global musical export.

Rather than resisting that shift, he has found ways to exist within it without abandoning his identity as a rapper.

His discography reflects that balance, from “Know You” and “Feeling” to “Big Energy”, “Guy Man”, “Hallelujah” and now REVIVAL. Mavin describes him as an artiste whose songwriting, wordplay and flow have helped redefine perceptions of African rap.

The result is a career that has moved beyond the question of whether rap can survive alongside Afrobeats.

For LADIPOE, the more interesting question is what happens when the two sounds continue to influence each other.

And with REVIVAL, the 'Leader of the Revival' appears more interested than ever in answering that question on his own terms.